Untimely Deaths

May 24, 1985

CAIRO, EGYPT — The ''mummy's curse'' is the stuff of thriller-diller movies and paperbacks, and some unexplained incidents have befallen the explorers of ancient tombs. But the curse of Napoleon? The newspaper Al Ahram raised the question Thursday because of the deaths of two leading members of the expedition that planned to salvage the French emperor's Egyptian campaign flagship, L'Orient, this summer. It was in the fleet destroyed by Britain's Lord Nelson in 1798 west of Alexandria. Jacques Dumas, who headed the expedition, died last month of a heart attack. His deputy, Kamel Abul Saadat, was killed in a diving accident in 1984. The salvage attempt: Postponed.